Always by my Side
by skippingcrazychick
Summary: After months of injury, AJ Lee decides that it is finally time to retire from in ring competition. When Seth Rollins finds out, he must find a way to deal with the sudden disappearance of his best friend. It's then that seth finds out the saying 'absents makes the heart grow fonder' is true. Is there more than just friendship between the two?
1. She's Leaving

The shock of WrestleMania 31 had yet to wear off for the newly crowed WWE Champion, Seth Rollins. He knew that there would be a chance that he would fail when he decided to cash in during the main event. Hell, even he believe that he wouldn't walk out of WrestleMania as champion. The decision to cash in had been a rash one but it was something he knew would be smart. Even if he didn't win, it would prove to everyone just how much he wanted to be champion. Just how badly he wanted it. And he would be making history if he did one. He knew as he told the gorilla he was heading out there and they began playing his music that he could be making the worst decision of his career. Yet here he stood with the championship belt in his hand.

The next couple of hours after the match had been a blur to Seth. He remember that as he walked backstage, most of the roster had gathered to congratulate him. Not everyone may have liked Seth but everyone was glad to see the championship off of Brock Lesnar. Seth did remember Dean Ambrose being one of the first people waiting for him, his shit-eating grin across his face as he reminded Seth that he would be coming for the title. The two had shared a laugh and waited for Roman to make his way backstage.

As Roman finally appeared through the curtain, the first thing he did was pull Seth into a hug. He had been so worried that Roman would be mad at the decision to cash in during his WrestleMania moment but the two were brothers, always would be. And Roman had told Seth he was just glad someone had gotten the belt away from Brock.

After talking to a couple of the other wrestlers backstage, Seth made his way to the locker room to finish packing so they could get on the road. It had been a long night and everyone was ready to be back at the hotel. It didn't take long for everyone to pack up their things and head to the garage. Seth was thankful he was getting to celebrate this moment with his friends. But there was someone missing.

Seth had been so in the moment that it wasn't until after they had left the stadium that he realized there was one person who hadn't congratulated him. AJ Lee.

Having been stuck in the backseat for the drive to the hotel, Seth leaned forward so he could see his friends in the dark better. "Did you know why AJ wasn't there after the match?" He asked Dean, knowing Roman would be just as clueless. Since the Shield had been called up to the main roster, AJ would always wait for the three backstage after every match. Even after the shield broke up, she would stand at the gorilla and wait for them whenever they had a match. The fact that this had been a championship match for Roman (and Seth after the cash in) and she hadn't been there really made the two toned wrestler curious.

The more he thought about though, he didn't remember seeing her at all that evening. At least not face to face. He had seen her heading out for her match and had watched the divas match backstage. She barely wrestled at all and then he hadn't seen her at all sense.

Dean shrugged his shoulders as he turned his attention towards the backseat. "I saw her and Paige after their match for a moment. She had her suitcase with her but she always packs early so I didn't think anything of it."

"I saw her with Ronda and Paige before I went out for my match. She told me good-luck and that she'd see me tomorrow. I assumed she would've said something to you before she left." As Roman spoke, Seth had sat back against the seat and frowned. For as long as he had been a friend of AJ's, she had never just up and disappeared on him like that. Something was wrong and he had no idea what it was.

* * *

It had been almost 24 hours since Seth had became champion and he was already back to work, walking around the stadium with the championship belt across his shoulder. According to the script for that evening, his was suppose to be late to the show. This gave the wrestler some time to go on a diva hunt. He had checked the matches for tonight and knew that AJ would be participating in a six team divas tag match so she had to be in the building somewhere. All he had been able to think about was finding her and making sure everything was okay.

He wasn't sure why he was so worried about the petite brunette but she was all he had been able to think about all morning. No text, no call. He felt like his best friend as avoiding him and he had no idea why. She had been the one to tell him cashing in during WrestleMania was a good move and then she left before finding out what happened. It wasn't like her. None of this was. And his gut was telling him something was really wrong.

Seth knew the first place to check needed to be the divas locker room. AJ didn't spend a lot of her time in there but it was the best place to start. Even if she wasn't there, one of the other women maybe had an idea of where she had skipped off.

After taking a nervous breath, he lifted his fist up to the door and knocked three times before taking a step back. After a few moments, the locker room door swung open and he came face to face with the anti-diva herself. Paige, another diva he had known for years, stood with a smirk on her face as she glanced at the belt sitting on his shoulders.

"Well what do you have there? Looks like I missed a lot last night." She spoke with her heavy British accent that brought a smile to Seth's face.

"You have, and so did someone else I wanted to share the news with. Yet she seems to be missing," as he spoke he looked over Paige's shoulders to see if he could spot anyone else in the locker room, "petite little crazy chick, likes to skip around a lot?"

The moment AJ was mentioned, he watched the transformation in Paige's face from excitement to nervousness with a mix of sadness. Right then Seth knew that it wasn't just a gut feeling. Something was wrong and AJ was avoiding him. "Paige, where is she?"

Before she had a chance to reply, Nikki and Brie Bella walked towards them. The two girls were both in their ring gear and looked like they had been in a hurry. Seth took a step back, not sure if the girls were heading into the locker room or not. They stopped though when they reached Seth and Paige. Brie smiled and waved at Seth but kept to herself, something that she seemed to do often.

"Paige you really need to head to the gorilla. Our match is up next," Nikki spoke in a hurry as she turned her attention to Seth for a moment. "Congratulations again Seth. We will need to take a championship pictures together soon. People will love that." Seth nodded but he wasn't sure if she had even seen, as the two girls walked past him and made their way to the gorilla.

While Seth had been listening to Nikki, Paige had disappeared from the door for a moment, only to return and shut the locker room door behind her. As the Bella Twins walked away, Paige gave Seth a sympathetic smile. "She will find you after the match, I promise. She hasn't wanted you to see her cry."

With that, Paige made her way towards the gorilla herself and Seth stood in his place, stunned. He was shocked by what Paige had just said. AJ was crying? In that moment, every fiber of his being wanted to follow Paige and catch AJ before she made her way out to the ring but he knew that wasn't the smart thing to do. She needed to keep her head clear before her match and didn't need him confronting her. Watching as Paige disappeared out of eyesight, Seth finally made himself move. He would go watch the match in one of the back rooms.

And he would be waiting for her at the gorilla as soon as the match was over.

* * *

As soon as he walked into the room he spotted Dean already sitting in front of one of the televisions, watching the divas entrances. He smirked as he walked over to his friend quietly, waiting till he was standing right behind him before speaking. "That is called a television. I know it is a foreign concept to you but as you can see, we use this tiny magical box to watch our friends during their matches."

Dean jumped at the sound of someone's voice, turning his head to see who was standing behind him. As soon as he saw it was just Seth, he rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the screen as Paige's entrance played and she appeared on screen. Seth walked around and sat down in one of the chairs behind Dean and watched as the cameraman showed AJ sitting on the ropes beside Naomi and Paige.

"I heard she's leaving." The comment hung in the air and Seth felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs. If that were true, it would make sense. She had been hurt for months and had never been given the proper amount of time to completely heal. Paige and AJ had had an emotional moment after their WrestleMania match, which was unlike both girls, but since had just figured it was because of their big win. Paige had said AJ had been crying earlier and now here she was, pushing an NXT diva by wearing Bayley's shirt. Something he knew AJ would do if she was leaving.

He knew it was true. It was the only thing that made sense but he didn't want to admit it. Especially since the thought of AJ leaving made him want to put his hand through a wall. He wasn't sure why he was so upset as AJ had spent the better half of the past year out of recovery but he was.

Instead of replying, he stayed silent and kept his eyes glued to the screen. As soon as he saw Naomi's rear view to Nikki and the count starting, he stood up and walked out of the room without another word. All he wanted to do was make sure he was there when AJ walked backstage.

* * *

As he walked towards the gorilla, he saw not only the Bella Twins and Natayla but the rest of the divas roster standing and waiting. He stood back and watched as Paige and Naomi walked through the curtains followed by a very emotional AJ Lee. The moment she stepped backstage, Paige wrapped her arms around the brunette and then almost every other diva did. The last diva to give AJ a hug was Nikki, who held her the longest before pulling away and whipping the tears from her own eyes.

"Thank you so much AJ, for everything. We are truly going to miss you."

Hearing those words from Nikki, proved to Seth the rumors were true. AJ and Nikki didn't hate each other the way the media believed but they weren't exactly friends. They had their ups and downs but they worked well together and they knew it. Hearing Nikki thank AJ, publicly, made everything more real.

He stood off to the side while the divas all said their goodbyes but a couple moments later, he caught AJ's glance and watched as a smile formed across her lips. Her smile brought one to his own even though he knew he didn't want to smile. The rest of the divas made their way down the hallway, most likely heading to the locker room, but AJ turned on her heels and skipped her way over to Seth.

"I never did get a chance to tell you congrats last night." She said with a smile and it took Seth a moment to realize what she was talking about. He watched as her eyes broke contact with his and she glanced at his shoulder that he remembered the belt he was currently holding. He looked down at it and smiled but refused to change the topic.

"Is it true?" It was the only words he could get out. All happiness drained from AJ's face as she heard his question and Seth knew there was no more denying it.

"Can we talk about this? Tonight? I promise I will explain everything to you." Unsure of if he even wanted to hear her response, he reached into his pocket and grabbed his extra hotel key - _her hotel key_ \- and held it out to her. As soon as the key was in her hand and out of his, he turned his back to her and walked away. Every once of his body was fighting the tears that wanted to form in his eyes.


	2. Your other half

The rest of the evening seemed to drag on forever for Seth. After walking away from AJ, he spent his time preparing for his main event match in which he ended up losing to Roman, Randy and Ryback. It wasn't Seth's proudest moment but his had was elsewhere and it seemed like everyone could tell. Once the match was finished and the show stopped tapping, Seth grabbed the championship belt and made his way backstage. Dean stood there waiting but he walked right past him, head down and eyes on the floor as he made his way towards the locker room. He knew that Dean would be confused and Roman would be shocked that Seth hadn't waited for him to get backstage but he didn't care tonight, all he wanted was to get back to his hotel.

It didn't take long for Seth to finish packing his suitcase but he was interrupted by the locker door opening. He knew exactly who it was but he kept his back to the door and waited for them to get the hint that he didn't want to talk. If they did get the hint, they didn't care.

"I know you're upset about the match but losing isn't that big of a deal." Roman said and for a second there, Seth wanted to laugh. He knew he should just turn around and tell them what was going on but he didn't have the energy. He wasn't sure he could even speak without wanting to cry and the sudden emotional state he was in bothered him. He didn't want his friends to see him like this. So he kept his back to them and continued packing.

"I was right, wasn't I?" The question that came from Dean's direction stopped Seth in his tracks. He finally turned around to face his friends. Roman looked confused, not having a clue about what Dean was right about. Seth couldn't even look at Dean, who genuinely looked upset knowing that he had been right. AJ wasn't just Seth's best friend, but a friend of all the Shield boys. She had been there for all of them and Seth realized just then that he wasn't the only one about to lose her. He couldn't figure out why it seemed to be affecting him harder though.

Turning away from the two again, Seth zipped up his suitcase and picked it up. He knew that right now would be the best time to have his brothers by his side but he could only think about one person. Dean and Roman moved apart, giving Seth the space he needed to walk out of the locker room and he took it. It wasn't until he was out of the locker room, with his back to his friends again, that he answered Dean's question. "Yes, you were." And with that he walked away from them and headed down the hall towards the garage.

* * *

The ride back to the hotel had been a quiet one. Seth normally rode with Dean and Ambrose to the shows since they didn't get to see much of each other with the shield having broken up. For this reason, Seth had ended up calling a cab to get back to his hotel. He knew he should have just waited for Dean and Roman, to tell Roman what was going on, but he didn't want to. Not yet.

Before he knew it, the cab was coming to a stop and he was getting out. He quickly grabbed his suitcase and made his way up the elevator and to his room. At this point he just wanted to get this conversation over with. Seth wasn't even sure if AJ had decided to meet him at his hotel room and if she had, if she was there yet or not.

Grabbing the hotel key out of his pocket, he opened the door and pushed his way inside only to spot a familiar figure laying on his bed. As upset as he had been moments ago, Seth couldn't help but smile at his best friend who was currently curled up in a ball in his bed.

Walking into the room and shutting the door behind him, he dropped his suitcase down quietly before walking over to the bed and jumping on it. The sudden movement of the bed caused the brunette to wake. Jumping up quickly, she turned her attention to Seth before letting a groan slip through her lips as she laid back down, grabbing a pillow and pulling it over her head.

"Go away," he heard AJ mutter through the pillow and he couldn't help but laugh.

"That would be a little hard since you are sleeping in my bed." Seth stated as he grabbed the pillow and pulled it away from her. He heard a sigh of defeat and watched as she rolled over on her back so that she was looking up at him.

"I was sleeping."

"And I woke you up. Nice to know we both can see the obvious."

AJ rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile as she sat up, crossing her legs indian style and facing Seth. "I'm assuming this means you deciding you did want to hear my reasoning."

For just a moment, Seth had forgotten why AJ was there to begin with. He forgot that this wasn't just the two friends hanging out like normal. He sighed as the topic brought back the uneasy feeling in his gut, and the emotions he couldn't pinpoint or understand. Those feelings were not what he wanted AJ to see at the moment so he pushed back those feelings and sighed, looking away from his best friend.

"I'd rather hear it was all a rumor but I don't see that happening anymore." He snapped and instantly regretted it. Seth had a way of getting an attitude when he was upset, something that AJ knew very well. She wasn't use to the attitude being directed towards her though, which made her slightly uncomfortable. Seth could see it and he wanted to apologize right away but didn't have a chance.

"I'm retiring from in-ring competition. I'm not leaving WWE." The first words out of her mouth and it was official. He didn't understand how she wouldn't be leaving. Not competing in ring meant she would no longer be traveling. He would no longer see her every day. Before he had a chance to speak though, she continued. "I'm sick Seth. You know this. I'm sick, and tired, and hurt. And this is the only way I am going to get the rest and healing I need."

Seth knew she was right as she spoke but that didn't mean he liked anything she was saying. He sighed and leaned back against the pillows on his bed before looking at AJ. She was right. He knew she was still injured, that WWE had brought he back to wrestle while she was still recovering. That she kept getting injured again. And Seth told her every time she needed to stay at home for awhile.

Now she was and he wasn't sure he liked the idea so much anymore.

He knew that he couldn't make this about him though. AJ was his best friend outside of his shield brothers, one of the few people he had known the longest in the company. He cared about her more than anyone else on that roster and he knew this was what was best for her. So after five minutes of silence, he finally spoke up.

"Do you ever plan on wrestling again? Or are you going to ride out the rest of your contract retired?"

Now it was AJ's turn to sigh, who turned so that she could lean up against the pillows beside him before speaking herself.

"I haven't decided what I want to do. Wrestling is my first love. It's my life. You know this. But there is just so much going on right now. I need to do this for me. If I'm given the option to renew my contract when it comes up, who knows. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

Seth shook his head and the silence grew between the two. They had always been able to sit in silence, in each other's company, without things getting weird but it seemed like tonight things were different. The atmosphere was tense. The two were both upset. And the silence was only making things worse.

"Seth, please don't hate me."

AJ's voice cracked as she spoke and it snapped Seth back to reality. He pushed himself up and turned so he was looking at her. At some point, AJ had stared to tear up and was now letting the tears fall. Crying was not something you saw her do often and the sight broke Seth's heart.

"I don't hate you. I just miss you already." Seth spoke as he reached out and whipped the tears that were rolling down AJ's cheek. Almost instantly, the tears stopped and Seth couldn't figure out if it was because he had saw her crying or if it was because of what he had sad.

"I promise you, I'm not leaving you."

With that, things got silent between the two again. Seth didn't know what to say at this point and it seemed that AJ felt the same way. A second later, he felt the bed move beneath him and watch as AJ moved to her feet.

"I should probably get going. I have an early flight tomorrow morning and I'd rather not sleep through it." Seth watched as she moved towards the door and jumped to his feet himself, wanting to stop AJ. He wasn't even to terms with the fact that she was leaving him and now he was finding out she was leaving the next morning. Before he even had a chance to speak, AJ stopped him. "I will be back this weekend and we are going to celebrate your big win, okay?" She smiled at him before opening the door and walking out into the hallway.

Seth stood still and watched as the door shut, closing the distance between AJ and him. After a moment, he grabbed his cell phone in his hand and pulled up Roman's number.

' _I need a beer. Or shot. Or ten. Wanna go to the bar?_ ' He sent a quick text and then grabbed his hotel key and walked out of the room, knowing that Roman and Dean would meet him downstairs.

* * *

Just like Seth had predicted, Roman and Dean walked into the hotel bar not even ten minutes after Seth had gotten there. He sat at the bar with a 22oz of Bud Light in front of him. It wasn't his favorite beer but it was something he knew he could drink fast and drink a lot of. The two made their way over to the two toned hair wrestler, both of them taking a seat on each side of him.

"Nice to see you waited for us." Roman spoke as he glanced at the full beer sitting in front of Seth, which caused him to laugh.

"This is my second one. Sorry, you guys are going to have to play catch up." The bartender walked over as Seth was talking and Dean order a round for him and Roman. The three of them would spend a lot of their nights at the bar whenever they had the next morning off. Tonight was different. They knew they had filming for smackdown the next day but none of them protested because they all knew why they were here.

"Look, you are allowed to be upset Seth. You can ignore it all you want, you can sit here and pretend you're not upset, but sooner or later you are going to have to accept it." Dean's voice threw Seth off, as well as Roman, as both men turned to look at him. They normally let Roman be the words of wisdom kind of guy so to hear it come out of Dean's mouth wasn't normal. Then again, this wasn't a normal situation.

"Why would I have a reason to be upset? She's going home because of injury. She's spent most of the year away anyway." Seth shrugged his shoulders as he downed half of his beer, not wanting to deal with the current conversation.

"What do you mean why would you be upset? She's AJ. And you are you. You're losing your other half."

"I still don't understand." Seth trailed off as he looked over at Dean and then at Roman. Both guys seemed to be thinking the same thing and it was taking Seth a moment to figure out what it was. "AJ's not my other half?"

That comment caused a roar of laughter to come from Roman which annoyed Seth. He turned to glare at the man, who had been quiet up until this moment. The look on Seth's face caused Roman to laugh again before finally speaking up. "Everyone knows how you feel about her man. You follow her around like a puppy dog."

"Are you guys sure you're not the ones drunk?" Looking at his beer, Seth sat a twenty down on the bar top and pushed his chair away. "Look, this wasn't my smartest decision. New champ shouldn't show up hungover for a show. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Before the other two could protest, Seth walked away from them and out of the hotel. This was not the conversation he was planning on having. He was wanting to get drunk and bullshit with his friends and instead they were wanting to talk about his _feelings_ for AJ. The thought made him laugh. Feelings? She was his best friend, of course he cared for her but that was it. It wasn't more. It couldn't be. But the longer the thoughts ran through Seth's mind the more he was starting to think maybe his friends were right. Did he like AJ more than just a friend?


	3. You're Both Insane

The conversation from the night before was still running through Seth's head when he woke up the next morning. He wasn't sure what it was about the conversation that seemed to be bothering him but something about it was. Sure, Dean and Roman had made jokes before about Seth and AJ. They had always spent a lot of time together but it had always been jokes. Or at least that was how Seth had always taken them. Now he was starting to think his two best friends really believed this.

Feelings for AJ. Romantic feelings for AJ. Obviously this was the farthest thing from the truth. Yet as Seth paced back and forth in his hotel room, he couldn't help but think more into it.

He uses to be a player, a ladies man. Finding a new girl to wine and dine and then that was it. Hell, he had even tried to have a thing with a few of the girls on the roster when he was down in NXT. It was just how he had always been. It was one of the things that Seth and Dean had first bonded over.

That had changed when they had moved up to the main roster. Sure, they had known AJ while they were down in NXT but it wasn't until they had been brought up to the main roster that his friendship with the petite brunette had really started to take off.

And as soon as that friendship had started, his relationships had stopped. All of them. The more Seth thought about it, he couldn't remember the last real relationship he had been in since becoming friends with AJ.

The same could be said for the diva as well. She was known to have had many relationships on screen for the WWE but her relationships outside of the ring had always been different. They had been there but the guys she had tried to date could never keep up with the girl. Yet they all seemed to have died down to nothing. Seth had never questioned why but as he walked around his hotel room, he began to wonder if maybe he was the reason. He began to hope maybe she had found something in him that she had never found in another guy before.

The moment that thought crossed Seth's mind, he shook his head to himself and laughed. This whole situation was ridiculous and he knew it wasn't true. It couldn't be.

Walking over to the nightstand, Seth grabbed his cell phone and pulled up Cesaro's phone number. Hitting message, he typed out a quick invitation to head to the nearest cross fit gym for a workout before smackdown. It didn't take long for Cesaro to respond with a hell yeah. Seth smirked at his phone as he headed into the bathroom to change into his workout clothes knowing that a good workout would be the best thing to get his mind off of AJ.

* * *

The workout had been long and Seth felt like he had pushed his self a little too far but his mind had been in another world and it was exactly what he needed. Cesaro had left the gym an hour before, reminding Seth that he should probably do the same if he wanted to make it to the arena in time.

After getting a quick shower, finally leaving the gym and making his way to the arena, he was surprised that he arrived just in time. Before he had a chance to do anything though, Dean and Roman made their way towards him.

"Where the hell have you been?! We thought you weren't going to show up." Dean asked and for a moment Seth thought he could hear some annoyance in his friends voice, causing the champion to roll his eyes.

"You don't have to babysit me Ambrose, I know how to get to my hotel to the arena on my own." Seth snapped before pushing past two men and heading towards the locker room. He wasn't sure what had gotten into him but he didn't have time to deal with those two. He needed to change and figure out the plans for the tapping for that evening.

* * *

Changing into his ring gear, Seth grabbed his championship belt and walked around backstage. He knew that he would be having a confrontation with Randy Orton that evening but wouldn't have his own televised match.

The first thing he knew he was doing was heading out to open up smackdown, something he knew he would be doing more often from now on. He made his way towards the gorilla and saw that Big Show and Kane were already waiting for him.

"Running a little behind schedule, aren't we Rollins?" Kane said, shaking his head and chuckling to himself. Seth smiled up at his co-worker before looking at the championship belt on his shoulder.

"Had to make sure the belt looked good for the cameras." He kept a smirk across his lips as he spoke, before turning his attention to J&J security arriving at the gorilla.

Seth knew he script, knew what he would be saying and doing by heart, but opening the show was something that always made him nervous. Of course smackdown was easier since it was the filmed show but messing up was not something that he wanted to do. Taking a deep breath, he kept his eyes locked on the floor before he heard his music hit and knew it was time to head out in front of everyone.

"Let's go Mr. Champion." Kane spoke which caused Seth to chuckle to himself as he took the first steps out of the curtain.

* * *

After the match, Seth walked backstage with a headache he wasn't expecting. He knew that he was going to be involved in the match between Randy and Big Show but he had forgotten just for a moment how hard Randy hit.

As if he had heard Seth's thoughts, Randy walked up to Seth laughing before putting his hand on his shoulder. "How's your head?" He asked and Seth was sure that Randy was reading his thoughts.

"I'm pretty sure you broke my face." He said with a soft laugh. The real contact in the match wasn't new or unusual but something that Seth seemed to forget. Maybe it was from the impact, he wasn't sure, but it made him shake his head and laugh all the same.

"You'll be fine young one, but you may want to get some makeup to cover that bruise." Randy laughed as he walked away and Seth frowned as he thought of a bruise forming on his face. But he didn't have time to think about it for long as he spotted Kane waving him over to where they would be filming their backstage segment.

* * *

The segment hadn't taken long to film and once it was done, Seth had decided to head back to the locker room. His mind had been distracted for most of the evening but as things were starting to slow down, all of his thoughts from the morning were starting to come back to him.

He needed a place to hide from everyone, a place quiet to think, and the locker room surprisingly was going to be the perfect place. Or so he thought.

Seth had been wrong of course, walking into the locker room and coming face to face with both Dean and Roman. Rolling his eyes, he walked past the two of them and towards his locker. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for your match?"

"I was just heading out there." Without another word, Dean walked out of the locker room and left Seth alone with Roman.

"I'm not sure why you're mad but –"

"I'm not mad. Okay? I just needed some time to think about things." Turning around so that he was facing Roman, Seth sat down and placed the belt down beside him.

"And what have you decided?"

"That you are both insane."

"Seth. Be reasonable right now."

"I am. I just lost one of my best friends and the other two are gossiping and making up stories about something they know nothing about." He felt himself getting annoyed all over again but he wasn't sure why. And he wasn't sure why he couldn't be honest with Roman about what was really going through his mind.

It fell silent between the two again and the thoughts started to run through Seth's mind again. Finally standing and turning away from Roman, Seth got all of his stuff together before heading towards the door.

"We still on to party this weekend?" Seth heard Roman's question and laughed out loud before turning to look at him.

"Of course. Do we even need a reason to go drink?" And with that, Seth walked out the door and made his way towards the garage. He shouldn't be leaving so early but tonight was not a night that he wanted to sit around and wait. He needed to get back to the hotel and sleep and hope that the rest of the week went by fast.


	4. Must be Special

The week went by fast for Seth, who had spent the majority of the time with the WWE and doing his championship duties. He had been so distracted that it wasn't until his phone lit up with the name AJ Lee that it dawned on him what day it was.

Grabbing his cell phone and hitting answer call, he held the phone up to his head and spoke.

"Hello princess," he said with a smirk as he got up from his bed and walked over to the suitcase, "not that I don't appreciate hearing from you but why are you calling so early?" As he spoke he glanced back at the nightstand where the digial clock sat reading 6:05am. Thankfully he had already been awake but that didn't mean he couldn't tease his friend.

"I figured you would be okay with it when you heard that I was in town already." As the words registered to Seth, he stopped what he was doing right away.

"You're here already?" He knew he wasn't hiding the excitement in his voice but he didn't care. If she had flown in early, she had done it on purpose and he would give her the satisfaction of knowing she had made him happy. But only this once.

"I am and I am in desperate need of someone to pick me up from the airport. Want to help a girl out?"

Before she had even finished speaking, Seth had gotten up and was pulling on a pair of jeans. He still had his rental for the next two days, which means he wouldn't have to wait to go pick her up.

"I guess I can do that. You know me, always wanting to help a damsel in distress." AJ's laugh rang through the phone and brought a smile to Seth's face instantly. It was a sound that he loved and even though it had only been a week, he was already missing it.

After telling her that he was on his way and hanging up, Seth slid his phone into his back pocket and grabbed his car keys before stopping himself. Everything that Roman and Dean had told him was starting to come back to him. Especially with the feeling just AJ's laugh brought him. Was there more than friendship between the two?

He pushed the thought out to the back of his mind. Not today. Today was going to be a good day, a day that he would not only get to enjoy the company of his best friend, but a day that he would get to celebrate his championship win with his other two best friends and anyone else who was wanting to drink that evening.

Putting a smile on his face, he open the hotel door and walked out knowing that today was going to be a good day, it had to be.

* * *

"I'm pretty sure the first thing I did when I got home was go to the comic book store and buy almost their whole stock." AJ sat in the passenger seat, facing Seth with the biggest smile on her face. It was the happiest he had seen her in a long time. She had been gone for less than a week and was already looking better than before.

"And how many of those have you already read?"

"About 98% of them. Probably. I think I have a couple left." She trailed off as she went into thought and Seth laughed out loud.

"Have you been resting the way you are suppose to? When is your next doctors appointment?" The joking had quickly turned to seriousness as Seth looked over at AJ. Yeah, she looked great, better than ever. But that didn't mean anything. She always came back looking good until she got in the ring.

"Yes, I'm resting. Haven't been in the gym at all, which is killing me. But if I ever want to wrestle again –"

"Wait, you're considering coming back?" He had hoped that she would. And he had asked her before when they talked about it the other day but not once did he actually think for a moment that she would come back. He knew how she felt about wrestling but he knew how she felt about the company at the moment.

His reaction made AJ laugh, who kept her eyes on him. "Of course. If I can. If things work out then I would love to be back in that ring again. I just can't make any promises about it."

Seth nodded his head and looked back to the road knowing that this conversation should end. He had something to look forward to now and he just had to sit back, be patient, and wait to see what happened. In the meantime, she was here for now.

After a couple moments of silence, Seth heard a yawn from the passenger side of the car and turned his attention over to AJ, who had curled herself up into a tiny ball and was leaning with her head against the window. He had no idea how she was capable of making herself look so small but she did it so easily.

"Is someone tired?" He asked as he turned down another road, changing his mind on where they were going.

"Nope. I'm wide awake." Before AJ could even finish her sentence, she had yawned again. Opening her eyes, she looked out the window before looking over at Seth. "Where are we going anyway?"

"Back to the hotel for awhile. Looks like it's nap time."

"No, I'm here to hang out with you. Not sleep." Seth didn't even have to turn to look at the brunette to know that she was currently pouting. She had started to yawn again but kept her mouth shut, hoping that Seth wasn't going to notice.

"You are going to hang out with me, all night. Right now though, it's naptime." Pulling into the hotel parking lot, Seth parked the car and glanced over at AJ who was about to fall asleep. "Don't fall asleep tiny, I'm not carrying you up to the hotel room."

As Seth got out of the car, he heard AJ mumbling something about him being an asshole but all it did was make him laugh again. It hadn't even been an hour and he was already overall happier than he had been this whole past week. Just being around her made him smile. Opening the truck to his rental and grabbing her suitcase, Seth thought to himself that maybe there was more to them than just friendship. Yet, closing the trunk and looking at the brunette he realized that he wasn't ready to bring that topic up with her. Not yet.

Having pulled out the sofa, he had given AJ his bed and had taken a nap on the sofa mattress himself. Waking up early had originally been a good idea but knowing they were planning on staying up all night drinking meant that sleeping in a little longer was the smarter decision.

* * *

The two had ended up sleeping in until noon when AJ had woken Seth up because she was bored. Lunch and running through the park had taken up more time out of the day than Seth was expecting and before he knew it, it was time to get ready to head out. Dean and Roman had insisted on dinner before drinking since the last time they had drank on empty stomachs, they had almost ended up in jail.

Right before Seth had gotten into the shower, AJ had left, saying she wanted to visit with Paige and Naomi for a little bit before the party.

Standing in his room a half hour later, he noticed that AJ had taken her suitcase with her, a sign that she would be getting ready and going to the party with the girls.

It didn't take long for Seth to get ready and once he was, he grabbed his cell phone and sent Roman a text to let him know that he was on his way down to the hotel bar. Quick dinner at the hotel didn't seem like a bad idea.

As he made his way downstairs and into the bar, all he could think about was the conversation that had happened the last time he was in here. Everything he did recently was bringing his mind back to that conversation and he knew that he should probably talk to Dean and Roman about it at some point but he knew tonight wasn't the night.

He looked around and noticed that Dean was already sitting at a table. Seth frowned knowing that he should probably apologize for how he snapped at Dean the other night but also thought that maybe he could just buy Dean a round of beers and he would understand. Maybe. Walking over to the table and pulling out a seat, Seth sat down across from his friend and smiled.

"Was wondering if you were actually going to show up tonight." Dean spoke, leaning back in his seat and looking right at Seth.

"It wouldn't be a shield boy party if all the shield boys weren't there." Seth said, trying to lighten the mood but he could tell that Dean was truly upset about everything that happened. Seth hadn't thought that his attitude would be that big of a deal to Dean but apparently he didn't know his friend as well as he thought.

Before either one of them could speak up, Roman had made his way over to them and sat down in a chair between them.

"Okay, I am starving. Let's eat some food and then go party." After that, it seemed to get unusually quiet and Seth was left wondering what he was going to have to do to make things better, or if he even wanted to.

* * *

A WWE party was something that most of the talent looked forward too. Even if they didn't all get along, an excuse to go out and drink was something they all looked forward too. Especially with the work schedule they had.

Walking into his own congratulations party, Seth wasn't surprised at all by the amount of people walking around. Hell, it wouldn't even surprise him if the whole roster were there tonight. Having the whole weekend off was not normal and it seemed like everyone was taking advantage of it.

A girl carrying around a tray of shots walked by and Seth grabbed three before handing one to Roman and one to Dean. "Cheers boys!" He said with a smile before taking the shot. Patron he was pretty sure. Not his smartest decision but he wanted to have some fun.

Three shots later and Seth had lost Roman and Dean. He stood with Cesaro and Randy, who were ordering more shots of Patron for the champion, when he noticed a familiar brunette walk in the doors. AJ stood beside Paige, looking half excited and half nervous. He considering going over to her before he heard Cesaro saying his name. Time for another shot.

Afterwards he looked back towards the door and noticed the girls were gone. He wasn't 100% sure they had even been there in the first place but he didn't feel like he was drunk yet so he couldn't have been imagining it. She was there and he'd find her at some point. He just didn't know when.

"I think I need another shot." Seth said and the group of people around him cheered.

Seth had lost track of the amount of shots he had taken which meant he needed to stop, at least for the time being. Waving to the group of people he had been hanging out with, he decided to go looking for AJ or Roman or Dean. Someone else that he was actually close to.

The first person he spotted was Dean, who seemed really into the conversation that he was having with Paige. Seth had known of Dean's interest in the young British diva but didn't think his friend would have enough courage to actually go for it.

It took a moment for Seth to realize that if Paige was with Dean, AJ was by herself. Or had already left. He frowned at the thought and pushed through the crowd of people.

So many people filled the club and Seth hadn't realized that there were that many people signed to the WWE. Deciding he needed some air, he made his way towards the patio. If he hadn't found AJ in that time then he would just call her.

Opening the door and feeling the fresh air hit him made Seth realize that he was maybe a little buzzed. Or tispy. Most likely drunk. He was going to need some ibuprofen before going to bed tonight if he didn't want to feel like death in the morning.

Glancing around the patio, he smiled to himself when he noticed a familiar petite brunette standing alone.

"Why are you hiding out here?" He said, trying to be as smooth as he could be. He thought he was doing a good job but by the look at AJ's face, he wasn't sure.

"Not that big of a partier, remember?" She gave him a smile and he felt that feeling in his stomach again. How happy just her smile made him.

"I must be really special if you decided to come to this party anyway." He moved closer so that there wasn't much room in-between them. He liked being close to her.

The wind had started to pick up, causing AJ's hair to fall in her face. She had laughed about the moment but before she could do anything, Seth had reached forward to push the few strands of hair behind her ears. He wasn't sure what had caused him to do it, it just seemed natural to him. Habit.

He kept his hand where it was for a moment, just gently placed on the back of her neck. She was looking up at him and he knew she was curious of what he was thinking, so was he. He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or his overthinking about his conversation the other day but whatever it was was telling him that this was a good idea.

And then without thinking about it, Seth moved another step towards AJ and leaned down, closing the distance between the two. He placed his hand on her hip and before his lips crashed against hers, he heard her breathe in. He pulled her closer and felt her hands on his chest, grabbing his shirt.

It wasn't long and as soon as Seth came back to reality, he pulled back and looked down at the ground. "Fuck, I'm sorry, I'm not sure what –," He seemed to trail off as he turned away from AJ, to embarrassed to look up, and made his way back into the club and towards the exit. He knew he needed to go back to the hotel and pretend that he hadn't just did that.


	5. She's The Best

The sound of a small buzzing on the nightstand woke Seth, though to him the buzzing felt like a small earthquake in his head. A quick groan escaped his lips as he rolled over onto his side to grab his cell phone. The name AJ Lee appeared across the screen and Seth watched as it rang, not wanting to answer but not wanting to send her to voicemail either. After a couple more seconds, the buzzing stopped and another notification popped up on the screen: missed calls, 5. All from AJ.

Turning his phone off and rolling back onto his stomach, Seth grabbed the closest hotel pillow and pulled it on top of his head. He had hopped that last night had just been a dream but with the amount of times AJ had called, he was realizing it had really happen.

Seth had kissed AJ.

And now he had no idea what was going to happen. He hadn't stayed around long enough to talk to her. He had no idea if she was pissed or angry or what was going on in her head. He was honestly too scared to find out. This could be the thing to end their friendship. He hadn't thought about any of that last night. But then again, that was the problem. He hadn't thought at all.

Any chance of falling back asleep had disappeared, causing Seth to sit up in his bed and look around the hotel room. He needed to get his bag packed and head to the airport before anyone had a chance to catch him. He wasn't sure if anyone had seen him and AJ last night, or if she had told anyone, but he knew that if it got back to Dean and Roman that he would never hear the end of it.

Thankfully he was scheduled for an appearance at a wizard world comic con this afternoon, which meant he would be away from most of the locker room, everyone besides Paige that is. It would be his luck that he would be stuck with AJ's best female friend for the day but it couldn't be that hard to avoid her, could it?

Forcing himself out of bed and making his way to the shower, Seth tried to wash the memory of the previous night off of him and out of his brain before shutting the water off and hoping out. As soon as he started to get dressed, he heard someone at his door, pounding.

And his heart began pounding too.

His first thought was that it was AJ, having finally given up calling him and decided to show up at his hotel to yell at him. That thought disappeared once he remembered that she had needed to take an early flight out this morning in order to get home on time. The next thought would have been either Roman or Dean but Seth knew it was too early for Dean to be awake and Roman wouldn't show up that early without calling.

'But my phone is off, he could have called,' Seth thought as he slowly walked to the door, hoping that if it was any of the three above that it was Roman.

It was a shock to Seth when he opened the door and looked up at Randy. The two weren't exactly best friends but they also didn't hate each other. And with how much they had been working together on screen, they got along off screen pretty well.

"Well it's nice to know you didn't die last night." As Randy spoke, he welcomed himself into Seth's hotel room. Seth shut the door and walked farther into the room, following Randy's lead.

"And why would I have died?"

"You disappeared, no one saw you leave. Figured you either went home with some girl or were dead somewhere." Randy shrugged and Seth noticed that he was looking towards his already packed suitcase. "Leaving for the arena early?"

"Neither actually. Alive and well and came back here alone, sadly." The sadly part had left Seth's mouth before he had even realized it and he wasn't sure why he had said it. Until last night he had never even thought of kissing AJ so why would he be sad he came back to the hotel alone. Shaking the thought from his mind, he focused on Randy's other question. "I'm not going to the arena tonight, I'm scheduled for wizard world."

His reply caused Randy to laugh. Most of the wrestlers enjoyed going to comic con but not the way that Seth did.

"God, I forgot you get too excited when you go to those things. You and AJ were always the worst when it came to wizard world conventions." The mention of AJ threw Seth off and he was really glad that he had his back to Randy at the moment, knowing the look on his face would give him away.

Give him away to what was the question. His feelings for AJ? He knew he needed to really sit down and think about that but he didn't have the time.

Pulling up the handle to his suitcase, Seth grabbed the WWE championship belt and threw it over his shoulder before turning his attention back to Randy.

"I actually need to head to the airport now so-"

"I'm leaving. Have fun at comic con. I promise to make sure no one misses your presence at the house show." While speaking, Randy had made his way back towards the door and opened it before waving goodbye and walking out.

* * *

The trip to Wizard World hadn't been a bad one but Seth was surprised he hadn't seen another wrestler on his flight. He had thought that the other guest was going to be Paige but maybe he was wrong. He had hoped that he was wrong.

Walking into the building though, he saw that he was wrong. She was already there, standing in the back with the WWE bodyguards and managers looking as hyper as normal. He truly felt like Paige was the energizer bunny.

Keeping his head down, he made his way through the back where he made sure he had the schedule for the day down. Looking at the paper, he had known it was going to happen but it wasn't so thrilled about it. He was stuck with Paige all day. From their Q and As to their autograph signing and photo op, it would be together. As he looked up and saw Paige looking at him, a smirk on her face, he knew that he was going to have one hell of a day ahead of him.

"Okay, are you guys ready to head out for the Q and A." Seth snapped his head up, looking away from Paige and forcing himself to smile. He may not enjoy his day with Paige but he was going to enjoy spending this time with the fans.

Neither answered, knowing it wasn't really a question, and followed without a word. Seth walked with his belt over his shoulder and Paige not far behind him. The hall they were talking it wasn't far from where they were but that didn't matter to the British wrestler.

"So how was your night?" Paige's voice was so quiet that Seth had barely heard her speak. He kept his head facing forward and pretended that he hadn't heard her. This was not a discussion he wanted to have with her anyway.

When he didn't answer, Paige made the distance between the two bigger and Seth couldn't help but breathe out a sigh of relief. Maybe today would be better than he thought.

Walking into the hall and taking their spots off to the side, they noticed the room filled up quickly. Seth wondered whom most of the people were there for: him or Paige. Maybe both. Maybe just wrestling in general. He tried to keep a tally of shirts in his head but stopped when he saw a short brunette skip into the hall, decked out in a costume that would rival AJ's real one – right down to the ripped up shirts. For a moment he had thought it really was her and his reaction to the girl had been quick, but as he turned away from the audience and looked at Paige, he knew she had saw it.

"I'd like to welcome our special guest, WWE Superstar and current champion, Seth Rollins!" His name had snapped him out of his thoughts and he walked up the stairs and towards his chair. "And WWE Diva, Paige!"

* * *

The question and answers was almost over and it had been a pretty good time. There had been a lot of fun questions and Seth and Paige had joked around with each other, the way they always did when they did these Wizard World appearances together. But it wasn't over just yet.

"I have a question for Seth," a young girl spoke. She couldn't have been more than ten and stood with pigtails and wearing the AJ Lee 'love bites' shirt. She had been the fifth person wearing an AJ shirt to ask him a question today and he was wondering if that was just a coincidence or not. "Do you like anyone?"

The audience all laughed as the little girls question rang through the room yet Seth couldn't help but smile at her. He was use to the questions from little ones, either about girlfriends or why he was mean to his shield brothers.

"Yeah Seth, do you?" He heard Paige's voice before he realized that she was the one that asked. He looked over at her and knew instantly she knew about the night before and she was not about to let him off the hook like he was hoping.

Turning his attention back to the little girl in the audience, he noticed how happy she looked. He always noticed all of the other curious looks in the audience and decided he would answer for the little girl, and not for Paige.

"I do. And I have to say, I think she's the best."

* * *

The Q and A had finished smoothly and was quickly followed by the photo op and autograph signing. He sat beside Paige the whole time but both of them stayed silent. He hoped she was finally going to let things go but he knew better than that. After finishing up the last of the autographs, Seth grabbed his cell phone to check the time, needing to make sure he wasn't going to be late for his flight.

"Are you really going to ignore me?" His head snapped up and he turned to face Paige for the first time since they sat down for the autograph signing. He could tell she was hurt about his actions.

"I won't ignore you if you stay away from certain topics."

"Seth, you know I can't do that. You realize everything you said during that Q and A is going to be all over the Internet right? She's going to see it."

The fact that Paige didn't even have to say her name bothered Seth. It was obvious yet he couldn't figure out when that had happened. Had everyone else known before him?

"She isn't going to know I was talking about her." For the first time, he admitted the truth. Even if he hadn't said her name allowed. Turning away from Paige, he pushed his chair back and stood up to leave.

"You kissed her. She's going to know." As she spoke again, he stopped. He had assumed that AJ had called Paige and told her what had happened but he wanted to pretend she hadn't, he wanted to pretend he could ignore that evening.

"I don't know what you're talking about." And without waiting for her to respond, he walked out of the room and towards the back room. He was ready for this weekend to be over.


	6. We're Friends

The events of the past weekend continued to run through Seth's mind long after they were over. In three days, things seemed to have completely gone to hell for him and he wasn't sure what to do from this point. It was like he was pushing all of his friends away without even thinking about it. Leaving him alone with nothing but his thoughts. And work.

Work hadn't been the best place for him though. It seemed like everywhere he turned, he was running into Dean, Roman or even Paige. The first night had been the worst with all three of them trying to get him to stop and talk. He kept his head down and made his way through the hallways without stopping and talking to anyone.

Tuesday's taping of smackdown had pretty much held the same results except Dean had given up. He hadn't seemed to care about getting Seth to talk to him anymore and that had probably been the worst part of the night.

After the filming of smackdown though, Seth didn't leave right away. He had been asked to talk to creative and he figured it had to do with his upcoming feuds. It was typical for storylines to change after pay per views. As he walked down the hallways though, he wasn't sure what to expect.

"Getting called into the principle's office, looks like someone's in trouble." Dean's voice had shocked Seth as he headed towards the office room that creative was using. He wasn't sure what the upcoming storyline was going to be about but as Dean was walking out of the office, he felt his stomach drop. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation.

"Well hello Seth, take a seat." Keeping his mouth shut, Seth walked into the room and took a seat across from the creative team. The head writer, the writers for Raw and Smackdown as well as the creative consultant were all sitting there, silently.

"With Extreme Rules coming up, we figured that we should give you an update on what we are planning on doing next." Glancing around the room, Seth stayed silent as he waited for the news of whom his next feud would be with, even though he was pretty sure he already knew.

"We don't plan on ending your feud with Randy right away. You two work really well together but we decided to add more to that mix. By the time Payback comes around, you'll be working with Randy, Roman and Dean."

The news made his head snap up and his mouth drop open. He was expecting Dean. Or Roman. Not both of them. He didn't know if he could handle working with both of them but he knew he couldn't tell them no. Staying silent for the rest of the meeting, he nodded his heads at the right time and waited to be dismissed.

When that time finally came, he said his goodbyes and walked out of the door to see Dean and Roman both leaning against the wall, smirks on both of their faces.

"I do not have time for the two of you right now." Seth snapped before turning his back to his friends and walking away from them. Just like he had been expecting, they both followed.

"You never have time for us anymore. What is going on with you? You're not just our storyline Brother Seth. You're a real brother to us. And now you just decide to fucking drop us like trash." Dean snapping back at Seth caused him to stop in his tracks. Spinning around on his heels, he stood eye to eye with Dean.

"You sound like a jealous ex girlfriend Dean. Maybe you should take a fucking hint." Before he realized what he was saying, the words had come out of his mouth and Dean lunged forward. Thankfully for Seth, Roman grabbed him.

"You should go now Rollins." The coldness of Roman's voice struck Seth but he didn't have time to talk to him. To apologize. He hadn't meant what he had said but it didn't matter at that point. Rolling his eyes, Seth turned back around and headed down the hallway, knowing that he had officially made things worse.

* * *

The rest of the week was a blur to Seth. Working out had taken up most of his free time. Preparing for his match against Randy had taken up the rest. He didn't want to think anymore. All he wanted to do was fight and fighting Randy is exactly what he needed.

Pulling into the parking garage, Seth parked his car and jumped out. All he wanted to do was get into the arena and get warmed up. Getting out of the car though, he saw a sight that he wasn't expecting.

Getting out of a car on the other end of the parking garage, Paige was opening the truck of her rental and grabbing her suitcase and on her side was a petite brunette. Seth felt his heart stop when AJ turned around, a smile on her face, as her eyes glanced around the garage. When they stopped on him, the two stood still.

In that moment, Seth felt like the whole world had stopped. He kept telling himself that he was imagining things. That there was no way that she would be there. But then he remembered their conversation. She had said she was still employed by WWE. Looking at her, he realized then that she really was there.

Breaking eye contact, Seth turned towards the truck of his car and pulled his suitcase out. Without another glance back, he made his way into the arena and hoping to stay as far away from his friends as possible.

* * *

After running a few ideas past Randy, Seth made his way to the locker room to change. As he walked into the room, he noticed a couple different superstars getting ready for Extreme Rules. In the back, towards where he had sat his stuff, stood Dean and Roman.

He could not believe his luck but then he realized that he shouldn't have been surprised. When they were the shield and even afterwards while they traveled together, they had always gotten ready in the back. He had unconsciously sat his stuff in the same locker he use to without realizing it.

Knowing that he couldn't procrastinate getting dressed, he groaned as he made his way towards the back. Dean had his back to his direction but Roman spotted him right away. His eyes following his movement, until he stopped just on the other side of Dean.

Dean, who had been going on about how excited he was for his street match tonight, hadn't noticed Seth until he heard someone moving beside him. He stopped talking and turned around, a look of pure amusement on his face.

"Did you see our visitor tonight? And by our, I mean Paige and I's visitor. Well, and Roman's as well." Pulling his shirt over his head, he opened his suitcase and search around for his undisputed champion shirt. He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to distract himself from tonight.

"She's been asking about you, you know. She really wants to talk." As Roman spoke, Dean scoffed at the idea. Seth rolled his eyes as he finally turned away from his suitcase and towards Roman.

"Like he said, she's not my visitor. She has no reason to want to talk to me." Looking around the room and noticing that most of the guys had already headed out, he shut his suitcase and threw it back in the locker. "I'll just finish changing later." And without another word, Seth left, leaving Dean and Roman speechless.

* * *

Seth knew that Dean's match would be first, so he knew he just needed to wait a little longer to finish getting ready. Running into Roman wouldn't be that big of a deal for him. Roman wasn't treating him like shit. Roman didn't have an attitude with him, even though he had every right too. So if he were going to talk to someone, it would be him.

And until then, he would just go and watch the preshow from the backroom. As he walked into the room, he remembered the last time he had been in there, had been the night Dean told him AJ was leaving. His heart dropped as he walked over to the chairs and sat down, listening as Renee and Corey bullshitted about the stuff going on tonight.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready? Not sure skinny jeans are comfortable enough to wrestle in." The voice made his heart skip a beat and he kept telling himself he was hearing things. But against his better judgment, he turned around.

"AJ." He had known she was there. He had known she would be running around the halls, the same halls as him, but he hadn't thought she would be in here. Not until Paige's match anyway.

"So you do remember me. I was thinking you had forgotten." Before he could register what was going on, she had walked over to his side and sat down beside him. "We need to talk."

"I don't see why." As he spoke, he heard Irresistible playing from the television screen. And they were live. He knew now was the time to get up and finish getting ready but every nerve in his body was yelling at him to stay, especially when AJ reached her hand over and placed it on his knee.

"Please. Seth, don't shut me out like this. We are supposed to be friends." She stopped right away, as if she was regretting what she had said but Seth didn't notice it. All he could focus on was her use of the word friend. Of course she couldn't feel the same way. He had known it but he knew he wasn't ready to hear it.

Without another word, Dean's theme played on the television screen and Seth knew he was safe to head back to the locker rooms. Standing up, he turned away from AJ and walked out, ignoring her pleas for him to stay.

* * *

Walking into the locker room, he slammed the door shut behind him. He had figured everyone else was out roaming the hallways or waiting for their turn in the ring. That was until he saw Roman sitting in the same spot he had been in earlier.

"Have you been waiting? Isn't that a little desperate?" He snapped but kept his eyes down, not wanting Roman to see how sad he was.

Approaching the suitcase, and Roman, Seth kept his back to his friend as he finished getting ready. Roman stayed silent while he changed, his eyes glancing up at the screen, which was still showing Dean's match. Once Seth was finished, he sat down on the bench beside Roman.

As Roman turned to face him, Seth knew he had caved. And Roman knew it as well. The smirk on his face showed that.

"Are you ready to stop acting like a dick yet?" Roman's question caused Seth to laugh and relax a bit.

"I guess so but I'm not making any promises."

"Okay then. What the fuck has gotten into you recently?"

"I like AJ." Seth said, for the first time aloud. Ignoring Roman's question, he looked at the wall across from him as he spoke. "I like AJ and she's gone. She left. And you guys knew. Dean knew she was leaving. And I'm mad. Because I'm to prideful to admit I like her more than a friend. Because Dean couldn't give me any warning. Because I lost a chance and lost a friend. I'm mad. And I can't stop thinking about it."

"And what does pushing us away have to do with that? What is the point?" Seth leaned back, shut his eyes, and thought about Roman's question. It was what he had been asking himself recently.

"Because you guys are just a reminder. And I can't think about it anymore. I need to stop thinking about it."

Opening his eyes, he looked up at the screen to notice that Dean and Luke had disappeared, apparently taking the match through backstage and into the street. And then the second match started. The two of them stayed silent as Dolph and Sheamus began their match.

"I already ran into her, by the way." Seth broke the silence but continued to watch the screen. He didn't want to look Roman's way, knowing he needed to keep his mind on the fight tonight and only that.

"And did you talk?"

"She said friends and that was all I needed to hear. I don't need to be rejected face to face. I got the message." Before Roman could respond, Seth sat up straight and looked at Roman for the first time. "Why is she here anyway? With Paige? I thought Paige was injured, which is why she's not in the divas match tonight."

"Paige is here for Dean." The way Roman said it cause Seth to laugh. He had watched Dean awkwardly hit on Paige for a couple months now but he was surprised that it seemed to be working. He slightly remembered the two of them together at the celebration party and he wondered how much he has missed in his friends' lives.

The two sat in silence again. Watching as the matches continued and soon enough, Dean appeared on screen again. After a couple moments, he hit the dirty deeds and one, two, three, won the match. Both Roman and Seth stood up at the same time and Seth knew what Roman was thinking.

"I'm just wanting to leave the locker room before he gets here. Not ready to talk to him about this yet." He saw the disappointment cross Roman's face but he didn't have time to worry about him. Grabbing the championship belt, he looked back at Roman one last time before walking out of the locker room.

* * *

Having a long list of people he was trying to avoid made things harder for Seth. He wanted to go back to the back room to watch the rest of the matches but he figured AJ was still there. He wanted to spend his time in the locker room then, waiting for his match, but he knew that Dean would probably be back there.

Instead he wandered around the hallways, stopping every now and again to talk to the superstars he passed. The only time he stopped to watch a match was when he heard Roman's music hit. He stopped at the nearest screen and watched as Roman and Big Show began their match.

"You look a little distracted." Another voice shocked him and he looked over at Randy, who stood beside him with his arms crossed. Seth shook his head and turned his attention back to the screen.

"Trying to focus on our match tonight." He said but he knew it wasn't true, and he knew Randy could tell he was lying as well. As soon as Big Show got trapped underneath the announcer table, Seth and Randy both moved away from the screen and towards the gorilla.

As Roman made his way backstage, Seth patted his shoulder as he walked by but kept his eyes forward. He knew there was a segment between Bo and Ryback before his match so he stood still and waited. He could hear the voices behind him and before he knew it, Randy's music hit. He had turned towards Seth and wished him good luck before walking out into the arena and Seth could feel the nerves hitting him.

And then his music hit. And he knew he should walk straight out but against better judgment, he turned around. There stood Roman with AJ by his side, both smiling at him. AJ lifted her hands up, giving him a thumbs up, but he couldn't help but look at behind her to see Dean glaring at him. Turning away, he took a deep breath and through the curtain.

* * *

The match, held in a steel cage, had made Seth nervous. He was going against Randy and he couldn't focus. All he could think about was AJ. But those thoughts made him angry. And he was going to use that anger to win this match.

He was worried, as the match went on. It wasn't until Kane had stopped Randy from escaping that he knew that he could do this. He just needed to get his head straight. And then he kicked Kane. He hadn't been paying attention, his mind somewhere else, and he had kicked Kane. And then a chokeslam. He needed to win this match and there was only one thing he could do to make sure he won it.

Once they were both up to their feet, Seth made his move and delivered an RKO. Randy was down and then Seth was out. Having escaped the cage. Having won the match. He was still the WWE Champion.

Grabbing his belt, he slowly made his way up the ramp and then backstage. He was shocked to see them still standing there. AJ stood smiling, bouncing up and down, Roman had a proud look across his face and even Dean looked happy for Seth.

"Seth you did amazing!" AJ spoke cheerfully as she spoke, taking a couple steps towards him. Before she could reach him though, he turned away from them and walked away.


End file.
